TradeHero in pacts with SGX, Macquarie Securities Thailand

• Virtual stock and derivative warrants trading contests, educational videos
• Partnerships to bring financial education to first-time investors

SINGAPORE startup MyHero Ltd, the company behind financial learning and stock market simulation app TradeHero, said it has partnered with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to launch the SGX StockWhiz 2015 contest.
 
This follows an agreement with Macquarie Securities Thailand (Macquarie) for DW Hero, a virtual derivative warrants (DW) trading contest.
 
The partnerships would bring financial education, and make financial investments more accessible, to first-time investors, MyHero said in a statement.
 
“Almost three million users on TradeHero’s free-to-download app are millennials, accounting for nearly 80% of its user base,” said MyHero chief executive officer and cofounder Dinesh Bhatia (pic).
 
“In an era where first-time investors are acquiring financial literacy through gamified apps, TradeHero is playing a leading role in driving financial education.
 
“SGX and Macquarie have been quick to see this trend, particularly among millennials. Together, we aim to make learning fun, engaging and comprehensive, in turn cultivating a culture of investment among young investors,” he added.
 
A 2014 survey from Bankrate.com found that millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) prefer cash three times as much as stocks for long-term investments, MyHero said.
 
The same study also pointed out that while the S&P 500 has gained 17% in the past year, most cash investments yielded less than 1%. Last year, Capital One ShareBuilder concluded that 93% of millennials lack knowledge on how to invest, making them less confident to do so.
 
With SGX, TradeHero launched StockWhiz 2015, a risk-free way to learn about investing in the stock market.
 
Stockwhiz 2015 is free-to-join and follows the success of StockWhiz 2014 which saw over 15,000 participants.
 
This year, participants can ‘invest’ in more than 400 Stocks, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) listed on SGX, in real time.
 
The overall winner, to be announced after the competition closes on June 30, will get S$3,000 (US$2,252) cash. Top performers will also get to keep their returns in real trading commission credits, sponsored by OCBC Securities, and stand to win over S$200,000 (more than US$150,000) in prizes.
 
TradeHero and SGX are also co-developing a series of educational video tutorials, covering a variety of topics, including the basics of trading and investing, riding big market cycles, and stock valuation.
 
Available as in-app ‘mobisodes’ on TradeHero as well as on the SGX Academy website, these videos will soon find use among various tertiary institutions to educate students and to promote financial literacy, MyHero said.
 
Over 90,000 people attended events and education programmes driven by SGX Academy and its partners in 2014, it added.
 
With Macquarie, TradeHero launched DW Hero, a simulation game that allows investors to trade virtual derivative warrants (DWs).
 
Using real time data from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), DW Hero gives investors a real-time experience of trading DW without using actual money. DW Hero saw over 15,600 participants, with the top five winners generating over 100% returns, MyHero claimed.
 
It also said that TradeHero is now the No 1 finance app in 91 countries, and in the top 10 in 127 countries, with over 3.6 million users.
 
In September 2013, MyHero raised US$10 million in Series A fundraising from Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers' China fund (KPCB China) and China-based IPV Capital. These investments helped TradeHero launch its product in Mainland China.
 
In March 2015, TradeHero linked platforms with Oanda, an online foreign exchange broker and services proivder, to bring virtual currency and precious metals trading to TradeHero.
 
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TradeHero links with Oanda, trading forex is game on
 
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